


From the Mists

by LadyBrooke



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Discussions about Difficult Subjects, Gen, Oaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22514557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBrooke/pseuds/LadyBrooke
Summary: There are oaths of choice and oaths to others.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24
Collections: X-Ship - The Crossover Relationship Exchange 2019





	From the Mists

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chauntlucet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chauntlucet/gifts).



The man had appeared out of the mists several days earlier, some gift or curse of the Valar, and Maedhros was still not sure what to make of him. Jaime Lannister - a strange name even for the names of Men, giving credence to his claims to not even be from this same world - had taken one look at Maedhros’s fake metal hand after the skirmish with orcs that followed his arrival and demanded lessons, flashing his own golden hand.

At the same time, he had answered honestly every question Maedhros had asked, or so Maedhros assumed. Few would claim to be a Kingslayer, even to the Kinslayers, if they had not actually done so. Fewer of those would also claim to be oblivious as to who Maedhros and Maglor were. And no one before had ever taken issues with the definition of Kinslayer used by the Valar, muttering under his breath about strange gods and how they did not actually exist. 

Maedhros had agreed to the lessons, if only to remove Jaime and Elros from each other’s paths. The last thing any of them needed was Elros gaining further doubts about the Valar and their roles on top of the existing ones he had gained from Maedhros and Maglor themselves. Maedhros imagined he could hear Turgon’s bellows of rage in the Halls from here. 

“And if your King had intended to burn an entire city to the ground? To allow innocent children and women to die in flames, as your Queen is treated like a whore by her husband?" Jaime blocked the sword blow and attempted to gain the upper hand for the first time in the last few days. 

Maedhros did not let his blade slip from his hands. He had yet to decide if Jaime was telling the truth about this or simply as skilled at using words as weapons as he was with the sword. He did not want to believe what Jaime said about the King he had slain, and yet, there was a quiet conviction behind the words that said he was speaking the truth. 

“You say that a King who tortures and kills his subjects should be killed, and perhaps you speak the truth, for such is unknown in the realms of Elves.” Maedhros’ eyes were harder than the steel of his blade slicing through the air, as he remembered ships burning. “But tell me, if the King was your Grandfather or Father, would the choice be as easy as the one you made to break your Oath in the first place.”

Jaime did not respond for a moment, parrying the blade and trying to knock it from Maedhros’ hand.

Maedhros thought for a moment that he had won the argument, if not the sparring match.

After a few moments had passed, Jaime finally spoke again. “The current King is my nephew.” There was something strange in how he spoke. It was the truth, and yet not the whole truth. Maedhros did not have his cousins’ skills to tell what the full truth was, however, and allowed it to pass as Jaime continued to speak. “Would it make it harder to break my vows against my own family? Yes. And yet, if he intended to burn down the city - ”

Jaime fell silent once more, as Maedhros swung out once more with his sword.

He did not, he thought, intend to hurt Jaime. Merely to make him be quiet about burning and fires, and other things he could not understand the difficulty of, even as Maedhros mind whispered to him about how he could perhaps try to twist his own oath, even if it could not be broken. Something to consider after they were done sparring for the day. 

He could see the other was tiring. Maedhros recalled those days right after his own rescue, when the others had tried to convince him to spar and than to not. He would not tell Jaime what he could or could not do. That was not what Jaime needed. 

Maedhros held his sword steady. When Jaime tried for another strike, he flicked his wrist and sent the other’s sword to the ground.

“You did well,” Maedhros said.

“Not well enough,” Jaime muttered.

“It will come with time.”

Jaime laughed at that. “Time that you have had and I shall not, if you are telling the truth. How long has it been since you lost your hand, hundreds of years? I would have decades only to live if we were at peace, and we are not. The oaths I will not break again shall be called upon once I am home.”

“If you are willing to break your oaths to your King, I do not know which oaths you would be unwilling to break.” He passed the waterskin to Jaime even as he spoke.

Jaime smiled at that. It was not a pleasant smile, but the same kind of bitter, twisted smile Maglor had at times. "To protect those who can not protect themselves. The ones that my oath as a Kingsguard conflicted with, and the ones I choose to uphold instead of those."

"And who do you make those oaths to?" Maedhros had heard of similar. Had made similar, in the back of his mind concerning his brothers and his people. But those were not binding, not like the Oath.

"To myself," Jaime said. "Who better than myself to know my oaths and judge me for them?"

"A dangerous viewpoint, to assume you can judge yourself justly." His own oath flickered in the back of his mind.

"Better to be haunted by my own mistakes and actions than to be haunted by allowing someone else to make them for me." Once more there was something Jaime was not saying, and once more Maedhros could not catch what it was.

"Perhaps," Maedhros allowed. "And yet I do not think forsaking my oath will do any good at this point."

"It would be a comfort to your brother and his sons."

Maedhros' grip tightened for a moment, before he relaxed. It was an understandable mistake, though he thought Maglor had told Jaime the whole story. "The twins are not my brother's sons."

"Blood is not all that counts for who a child calls father," Jaime said. Again there was more lurking behind him, and again Maedhros could not tell what. It seemed that would be the constant annoyance until he was gone. "They cling to him, love him - if he acts like a father and they act like his children, you would be better off treating them all as such."

"The Oath will not permit such."

Jaime shook his head. "Oaths can be broken or twisted until you do less harm with them."

Maedhros allowed himself to imagine such again. Perhaps they could dwell here in peace, or as much peace as any were permitted in these times. Maglor would be happy to let the oath rest for as long as they could, and perhaps the twins would grow and live instead of dying like the rest of their family.

"You have given me much to think of."

Jaime shrugged. "And you have given me some knowledge of how to use this."

He gestured with the gold hand. It caught the light, and Maedhros shook his head. "One more piece of advice - gold is not the best weapon for your hand."

"It is the only one my sister will accept," Jaime said. "She sees such things as flaws."

"She may need to accept other if she wishes you to stay safe."

"She might prefer me gone from sight in that case." Jaime looked at the hand. “Gold and red are the colors of a Lannister, and a red hand would stand out even more.” 

Maedhros thought back to Curufin's frantic attempts to forge better and better hands, and tried to imagine a world where his brothers had been dismayed. "I am sorry."

Jaime shook his head, as though trying to shake away his thoughts. "It is fine. The King’s mother must be concerned with how her brother reflects on the King.” 

"Very well," Maedhros said. There was more he could have said, but the strange mist was back that had originally brought Jaime there. There would be no more answers or questions.

The mist closed, the last rays of light glinting off the golden hand. 

Maedhros waited until it cleared again. Jaime was gone. 

Now Maedhros would need to decide what was to be done with his own oath. 


End file.
